Final Fantasy XIII 1. A Late Night Walk

Lightning grimaced slightly as she rolled over, desperate for sleep to overcome her. It was freezing out there in the open, and she was finding it hard to ignore. Although she had to endure these temperatures during her soldier's training, at least she had blankets. But no, here she was forced to lie in a tent on uncomfortable, un-even ground.

She didn't think much of Gran Pulse before she got there. All she knew was the residents of Cocoon were scared to death by it, for reasons she didn't understand. The War of Transgression was several hundred years ago, but the inhabitants of the floating city were still plagued by irrational fears, even though there were barely any people left on Pulse, if any. Lightning grew up on old tales of Pulse, tales about the great demon Lindzei, and how he alone created Pulse in his terrifying image. It was said that people from Gran Pulse were lured to Cocoon with sweet promises, which of course lead to all Pulsians believing that Cocoon was the home of demons, and had to be destroyed, While the people of Cocoon believed that Pulse was the Devil's land, infested with hellish monsters and undiscovered terrors.

Of course, Lightning knew now that this was only half true. Yes, Pulse was filled with massive beasts and intimidating monsters; but it was the most gorgeous and peaceful place she had ever seen. The deep green grass covered the ground for miles, and the large vegetation sprouted from every crevice in sight. Large trees were scattered throughout the entire area, covered with large, thick leaves. The ground was also decorated with small cliffs, and huge flowers that she didn't even know existed were around every corner. They would pass the occasional waterfall on their journey through Pulse, but she could never get over the sheer beauty of watching the crystal clear water spill over the rocks into the depths below. She had to repress the urge to jump into the shining water once or twice, because it was just so damn _hot _during the day.

Unfortunately for her, the nights were cold as sin. She regretted cursing the ridiculous heat earlier, because now it seemed like it came back to bite her in the ass. She was currently pulling her knees up to her chin, with her hands locked around her legs, firmly in place. She stayed in that tight ball for a few minutes, but gained no extra heat. She decided that staying in that uncomfortable position was pointless, and uncurled herself. She let out an involuntary shiver as a cool gust of wind spiraled outside.

At this point, she would do anything just for some heat. The fire had burned out an hour ago, so that was out. It was too risky to cast a fire spell, she would loose control of it and end up burning the entire place to ashes. She was never very good at spells.

Lightning huffed in annoyance and sat up to unzip her tent. A nice jog through the nearby forest would surely heat her up a little.

She pulled the zipper down all the way, and slipped out of the tent, making sure to stay silent. She walked passed the burned out fire, which was still emitting a tiny bit of smoke. She could hear all of the soft snores coming from the rest of the party, one particular loud snore catching her attention. _Tch. Probably Snow. Idiot,_ She thought. She let out a long, drawn out sigh as she realized that the snores were only getting louder, and would probably wake up the rest of the group.

She silently made her way over to Snow, who was fast sleep with his head resting on an uncomfortable looking log. They only had two tents, which could only fit one person each. Much to her dismay and protest, the group insisted on taking turns inside the tents, completely ignoring Lightning's attempts to decline, stating that she was perfectly fine sleeping outside.

As she neared Snow, she noticed how he was sleeping. His trench coat was ruffled and dirty, with his arm twisted around his torso awkwardly to support his head. And of course, his mouth was wide open, hence the impossibly loud snoring. Lightning rolled her eyes and walked up to Snow. She reached down and cupped his chin, and then pushed his mouth closed. The attempt was futile however, because as soon as she stood up, his mouth popped open and the snoring commenced again. She tried a second time, with failed results.

Close. _Pop! _Close. _Pop! _Close. _Pop!_ Lightning bit back a snarl as she felt her annoyance building. She got up and walked over the his bandana, which had fallen off of his head during his restless sleep. She picked it up, and stuffed it into his mouth, which effectively cause the snoring to cease. The lumbering oaf didn't even wake up.

When she was sure the bandana was going to stay in place, she turned around and started jogging towards the path leading into the forest ahead. She could feel goosebumps start to rise on her skin as the cool breeze whisked by her on her steady pace. The light from the moon and the occasional spell were the only lights in the forest. She only cast healing spells of course, because she just really didn't feel like dealing with a forest fire at the moment.

She jogged for about twenty minutes, before deciding to turn around before she got horribly lost. The light of the moon cast an eerie glow over her current path, which was now the only source of light after she ceased her spell casting. She knew that she could have kept going for hours more; her Guardian Corps training taught her that. She barely worked up a sweat, but it would have to be enough to last her the night.

She was about to start jogging again in the opposite direction when she heard a familiar, but unwanted voice from above her.

"Going for a little midnight stroll, sunshine?" Asked a sarcastic, accented voice from the trees. Lightning stopped her movements, and swerved around in the direction of the voice.

"Fang..." Growled Lightning, dangerously.

"Oh, you are just a bundle of smiles." Laughed Fang.

"Fang, if you don't come down from there I swear to the Fal'Cie I will-"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." The rustling of leaves could be heard, but then silence. Lightning waited impatiently for Fang to get out of her tree of choice.

"BOO!" Shouted Fang, causing Lightning to jump ten feet in the air. On instinct, Lightning swerved around and brought her hand up to attack Fang, who lazily blocked her hand. Lightning snarled in response, which only spurred Fang on. She snickered as Lightning tried to get out of her grip.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." Lightning said, enunciating each word.

"No." Fang grinned, and kept Lightning's arm firm in her grip. Lightning jerked her arm back once, twice, three times, but Fang was seemingly unaffected.

"Face it Farron, I'm stronger than you. You can't escape my titan grip." Fang taunted, which only fueled Lightning's anger.

"I don't have time for this!" Lightning snarled. Her anger was boiling just below the surface, and if Fang didn't wipe that smirk off of her face soon, she was going to have an aneurism.

"Woah there, Lightnin'. You look like you're going to pop a blood vessel! Are you always this tense?" Asked Fang, smirk firmly in place. Lightning only growled in response, her face going red.

"I'll let you go when you calm down. I don't want you to go rippin' my head off, I'm too pretty to die." Stated Fang, while running a hand over her body. Lightning couldn't help but agree. Fang _was_ quite pretty, and her sari, which only covered half of her body, only added to the affect. That sari did somehow manage to cling to all of the right places...

Lightning shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. Her arm was in Fang's grip, now was not the time to be thinking perverted thoughts about the woman in front of her. _And what a woman she is...no! Shut up! _Lightning thought, frantically.

"You alright there, Lightnin'?" Fang asked.

"Uh...yeah..." Lightning replied. Seeing that she was calmed down, Fang released Lightning's arm, which now had a red hand mark covering it. Momentarily frowning at the evidence that Lightning was even near Fang, she turned around and headed back to the camp.

"Eh! Where are you going?" Fang questioned, only to be ignored. Fang jogged up to Lightning's side, earning a sigh from the soldier.

"What do you want, Fang." Lightning asked, once again annoyed.

"Well, I saw you get up and stuff a bandana in Snow's mouth, which was quite funny by the way, and then I watched you jog into the forest when it's freezing outside, so I followed you to see what you were doing...which brings us to where we are now." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I was freezing. Am I not allowed to go for a jog? She snipped. A sinister glint appeared in Fang's eyes.

"You were tryin' to warm up, huh?" Lightning nodded. Fang smirked. "I can think of a few ways to warm you up..." Fang said suggestively, while running a hand up Lightning's arm.

It took a few seconds for Lightning's brain to register what Fang just insinuated, and when she did, her mouth dropped open in shock. She hit Fang's hand away, then sped up.

"Aw, c'mon sunshine! Don't be like that!" Fang laughed, as she too sped up to stay by Lightning's side. When they finally got back to the camp, the moon was low in the sky, signaling that night was almost over. Lightning sighed, realizing that she would be getting no sleep tonight.

"Fang...weren't you supposed to be on guard tonight?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah..." Fang replied.

"Why would you just leave? A flan, or even a _behemoth _could have waltzed right into our camp, and killed everyone in their sleep! How could you be so irresponsible?" Lightning whisper-shouted, careful not to wake anyone else up. Fang started to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry Lightnin'...can you ever forgive me for my inexcusable behaviour?" Lightning rolled her eyes. "Goodnight Fang."

"You know, my offer still stands if you're still co-"

"_Goodnight, Fang._" Lightning ducked into her tent, never managing to fall asleep.


	2. Discovering Feelings

**AN:\ Hello! I just wanted to say thanks to the people who added this story to their alert subscriptions/favourites and who reviewed :D**

Lightning was annoyed.

No, not just annoyed. _Very _annoyed. She got _no _sleep last night _whatsoever. _But that wasn't what was making Lightning teeter on the verge of insanity. No, that accomplishment was reserved to one Oerba Yun Fang. Ever since the night before, Lightning kept having _thoughts _about her. Fang invaded every one of her senses, until all she could think about was _her. _It's ridiculous really, Lightning didn't particularly like Fang, and now she was having inappropriate thoughts about the huntress. To say Lightning was surprised at herself was an understatement. She didn't even know if she liked girls, or men for that matter. She never had time to experiment, she was always too busy looking after Serah, or working.

Lightning sighed, and moved to get up from her sitting position. All she needed was a little exercise, and all of these thoughts about Fang would disappear.

Apparently the maker couldn't even grace her with that privilege, because everyone started waking up.

Lightning watched with a frown as Sazh slowly roused from his slumber, grimacing when he lifted his head off of the ground.

"Ahh...owwww. I'm never sleeping on the ground...again. Ever." He mumbled. Snow was the next to wake up, jolting awake as if he was having a terrible nightmare. He immediately noticed the bandana in his mouth, and spit it out with a disgusted look on his face. Lightning barely bit back a smirk when he started to look around for the culprit who put it there. Vanille crawled out of the other tent, with a content smile on her face. At least one of them had a good sleep.

Lightning didn't fail to notice the lack of Fang in their group. She observed the area, but the Pulsian was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Fang?" She asked.

"How should I know? I just woke up, woman! Ah-_damn! _I have several different knots in my neck." Grumbled Sazh. He then looked at Lightning pointedly, to which she said she would rather die than work out the kinks in his neck. She then glared at his blatant disrespect.

This wouldn't be the first time Fang ran off, in fact, it had become a daily occurrence as of late. Lightning understood that being back in Pulse was a big deal for Fang, but with their L'cie brands opening millimeter by millimeter everyday, they just didn't have time. She did secretly respect Fang, ever since they met in Palumpolum. Lightning didn't like the idea of partnering with Fang at first, but she found settling into it a rather easy accomplishment. Fang and Lightning fit together perfectly, she found that she could even count on Fang's strength and skill in battle. The soldier always had a social complex, which only got worse after her parents died and she was forced to look after Serah. This made it hard and aggravating for her to work with a group or another person; she always preferred to fight alone. But here comes Fang, waltzing in on her life like she owns the place, and all of a sudden, the nervousness of working with a partner ceased to exist. Of course, she didn't let it show. If Fang knew that Lightning actually didn't mind her company, she would abuse that fact to no end. The corners of Lightning's lips curled up slightly. _Partner. I like that idea._

Being truthful, Lightning was a little frightened at first when she found herself gravitating towards Fang. She didn't really know what it was like to actually care for someone, or to trust someone. She lost that ability years ago. But with Fang, it was a different story. In some ways, Fang reminded her of herself. Strong, and swift. Deadly in battle. Perfect for planning battle strategies, and being a leader. Fearless. That was all Fang, and Lightning respected that. She knew that she could always rely on Fang in battle, one look into those emerald orbs and they would already have a battle plan. Lightning would attack, and Fang would always follow through, perfectly. She especially noticed Fang's talent for fighting when they would spar. It was apparent that Fang had more strength, which Lightning made up for with her unbeatable speed. Together, they were an unbeatable team, perfectly in sync, destroying every obstacle in sight. Lightning sighed. if she didn't stop thinking about Fang soon, she would go insane.

"Damn, Snow! What is _wrong _with you?"

Lightning was yanked from her thoughts by a whining Sazh, clearly complaining about something Snow did wrong, which didn't surprise Lightning at all. She pushed herself up, and moved to the camp. She was greeted by a very unpleasant smell, wafting from the fire pit. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; Snow had tried to cook.

"Hey, c'mon now! It's not that bad!" Snow then grabbed a piece of very unappetizing looking meat, which was an unhealthy grey colour, and greedily shoved it in his mouth. His face twisted into an expression of immense distaste, which he quickly tried to hide. Sazh stared at him in horror, trying not to gag when Snow finished chewing and then swallowed the disgusting mystery meat.

"See? ...s'not bad at all..." Snow was beginning to turn green. Sputtering an incoherent sentence, he excused himself from the fire, looking very ill.

"There you are, soldier! I thought I was going to die of food poisoning! You think you can uh...get some food? I'm starving over here." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I'm not your personal maid, Katzroy. You can get your own food." Sazh grumbled for a few seconds, before disappearing into the forest in search of fruit.

* * *

><p>"You know sunshine, we have to stop meeting like this." The voice of Fang said. Lightning was hit with déjà vu. Fang was once again above her, in a tree.<p>

"Whatever." Lightning sighed. She was too tired for this. She started to continue onwards, before Fang interrupted her, once again. She hopped down from the tree, and stopped Lightning in her path.

"You don't want to go that way, Lightnin'." Lightning quirked a brow. "And why is that?" She asked, thoroughly annoyed.

"You see that thing over there?" Fang pointed across from them. Lightning did see it. It was an ugly, blue thing, that looked like it was composed entirely out of water.

"That's an Ectopudding. You do _not _want to go that way, those things are nasty buggers to deal with."

"Ecto_pudding? _As in the dessert? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard." Lightning said, incredulously.

"Wouldn't be the weirdest name in the world. What about _Lightning? _That's a strange name if I've ever heard one." Fang smirked. She sure did like smirking.

"You're one to talk. _Fang? _What kind of name is that?"

"Aw, and now you've gone and hurt my feelings. My name can't be as bad as Hope's, right? Isn't that a girl's name?"

"It can be either! At least they aren't as bad as Snow. I mean, _Snow? _Really?"

"Yeah, you're right. Pfft, _Snow._ That ain't a name."

"No it is not."

Fang chuckled softly. The soldier was finally beginning to act human.

Fang sighed when Lightning started to make her way towards the Ectopudding again. "Suunshiiine." She sang. "Where are you gooooiiiing?"

"To kill the, ahem, _Ectopudding. _Don't wait up." Fang stared at her in disbelief.

"Were you not listenin'? I'm not letting you get yourself killed. I'm comin' with ya." Lightning shook her head, not feeling entirely comfortable being around Fang at the moment.

"I think I can handle this one, Fang." Lightning turned away, and quickly used a librascope on the beast.

"Oh, well look at that. Looks like I'm in luck. It has a weakness to _lightning."_ Fang stared at her for a moment, her brain not fully processing that Lightning had just made a joke. Before she could reply however, Lightning charged at the Ectopudding, taking it by surprise. Fang gaped at her. She may have just made a very bad mistake.

Fang immediately cast deshell and poison, but growled when her deprotect took no effect. With the gelatinous monster slightly weakened, she charged with her lance, only to have it go right through the Ectopudding, leaving it unharmed. _Shit...I forgot these things are immune to physical attacks...I'm screwed, _Fang thought, grimly. Fang wasn't that great with spells. In fact, she was horrible at them. She decided to go with a small lightning spell, which quickly materialized in the air. It shot out from her hands, out of control, and headed straight for Lightning. Sensing the spell rapidly approaching her, Lightning ducked out of the way, sending Fang a vicious glare. Fang smiled sheepishly, she was in trouble after this.

Lightning was having more luck, swiftly casting successive thunder spells at the enemy, occasionally hitting it with Thundaga. She found it much easier to control spells when she was motivated. Despite her successful spell casting, the monster was barely weakened. Lightning grit her teeth when the monster swung one huge, strong hand straight at her. She backflipped over the oncoming hand, landing on her feet a few meters back.

Fang was desperately trying to control her spells, without much luck. She conjured up a small lightning ball, which crackled and buzzed in her hands. She felt the familiar tingle go up her arm as the spell intensified. She used all of her strength to launch the spell at the enemy, which quickly barreled through the air. It luckily buzzed just passed Lightning's head, and hit it's target, causing the monster to stumble. Fang was practically happy dancing with her accomplishment, which Lightning didn't find very amusing. In the middle of her happy dance, she failed to notice the watery hand swinging straight for her.

"Fang, get out of the way!" Lightning shouted. By the time Fang noticed the clawed hand, it struck her in the stomach causing her to double over in pain. "Ow! Shit!" She yelled, not fully expecting the strength behind the monster's attack.

"Don't be so careless, Fang!" Lightning yelled, while casting more thunder spells at the Ectopudding. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Lightning was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. "Fang!" She shouted, trying to get the Pulsian's attention. "Ack-what?" Fang sputtered, still holding her aching stomach. "What happens when water gets cold?" she asked, still dodging attacks. "It freezes, so wha- oh. _Oh!" _Fang quickly got the idea, and started to conjure a small blizzard spell in her hands, and then thrust it in the Ectopudding's direction. It hit the monster's side, momentarily freezing it.

"It works!" Fang shouted, grinning. Lightning poured all of her concentration into her Blizzara, which was quickly forming in her hands. The cold was radiating off of it in waves, making it hard to continue charging it up. She released it, and it shot towards the Ectopudding, freezing it and the ground around it. In a desperate final attempt at defeating them, the Ectpudding swung a half-frozen arm out. Lightning quickly unsheathed her gunblade, switching it to sword form. She swung the blade out harshly, which connected with the monster's arm, shattering it. She then turned it the gunform, and shot the monster three times in the chest. The force of the bullets caused the rest of it the shatter; the only thing left of it was the iced over body, which was already melting in the Sun. For one horrifying moment, Lightning thought that the beast would reform from the melting water. Fang apparently noticed this.

"Don't worry, sunshine, It's dead. It won't reform again." Lightning gave her a curt nod, then turned to leave.

"Hey, i'm hurtin' over here!" Fang then pointed to her stomach, which was starting to go purple from the bruises that were forming there.

"Get Vanille to heal you." Fang, still clutching her stomach, started to pout.

"But I can barely walk..." Lightning sighed, and made her way over to the injured huntress. "Er...Fang...I'm going to need you to move your clothes out of the way." Fang smirked, and pulled her sari aside, leaving her stomach bare for Lightning to see. Lightning couldn't help but stare at the toned and tan muscle that was now on display. She lightly touched the skin that was bruised, which rippled under her touch.

"You're staring, sunshine." Fang grinned.

"I'm checking the extent of your injuries!" Lightning said, a little too quickly.

"Sure, sure." Fang replied, grin still in place.

Fang relaxed as the warm and comforting sensation of Cure spread over her midsection. The sensation seeped straight through her skin, until she could feel it spreading throughout her entire body. The magic flowed from Lightning's fingertips and onto Fang's stomach, which greedily accepted it to heal the bruises.

After she was done, she helped Fang to her feet, who noticed that her stomach was feeling good as new. She could still feel the lingering sensation the the cure just beneath her skin, it was a warmth that burrowed inside her body, refusing to leave.

* * *

><p>After Fang and Lightning finally got back to the camp, (doing a fine job of avoiding monsters) they were greeted by an awkward silence that covered the air. Sazh was sitting on a log in front of the crackling fire looking deep in thought; Snow stood off to the side, looking agitated. Hope was asleep on the ground next to the fire to keep warm. All in all, no one really knew what to say.<p>

The two women opted to stand and wait for someone to speak up. All of a sudden, Snow exploded, causing Lightning to jump and Fang to look at him in surprise.

"So this is how it ends?" He shouted, catching everyone's attention.

"Now wait just a minute. How long has it been since we left Cocoon, hm? Not a single soul for miles around, not a single clue to this whole L'cie mess." Sazh remarked. At first, his tone stated that he was annoyed, but his body language told differently. He was sitting, slouched over, not looking Snow in the face. Snow was about to protest, before Sazh cut him off.

"What I'm saying is...we did well just getting this far." Lightning couldn't help but agree. Never could she imagine that she would be fighting against Fal'cie, or traveling to Pulse. It was unreal what they had accomplished, especially being strangers when they first met. But now, they were...almost like a family.

Snow sputtered for a moment, before Vanille spoke up. "Well...we could go a little further..." Lightning straightened up, her interest now peaked. Sazh sat up. "Meaning?" He asked.

"There's still one place..." Vanille's cryptic speech was putting Lightning a little on edge. She wished she would just spit it out, they were wasting time.

Fang's head snapped up at Vanille, looking at her in shock. "Vanille! Are you sure?" She inquired. Fang stared at Vanille, looking for any signs of unsureness. Vanille nodded. "I'm sure." Lightning turned to the pair, still not absolutely sure what they were talking about.

"You know, if we don't find something this time, we won't get another chance." And that was true. Their L'cie brands were transitioning rapidly, and one wrong path would doom them. Hope chose this moment to speak up.

"Oerba...the place it all began." Hope's arm stretched up, reaching for the stars. "The place where the Pulse Fal'cie lay dreaming. Vanille and Fang's home. Just maybe...it will hold the answers we're looking for." Hope turned his arm and regarded his brand wearily. Fang didn't look very optimistic. "Yeah...if we can get there." Exhaustion was etched onto Hope's face; it was clear that he needed to rest.

"Go ahead without me." He said, immediately causing protest within the group. Vanille scurried to Hope's side. "We can't just leave you!" She exclaimed. "I'll be fine." He answered, but it was clear that he was far from it. "You've all taught me so much...taught me how to fight." He continued. He attempted to stand up, but stumbled a few steps upon doing so. He was steadied by Snow, who's arm shot out to catch him.

"What did I tell you? Leave the fighting to me." Said Snow.

"I'm scared." Hope croaked. Lightning was immediately concerned, it wasn't like Hope to show so much emotion. She decided the best way to go was to comfort him.

"We understand. You're not going to go through this ordeal alone, you know." She smiled at him in assurance, and lifted his chin to look at her.

"But that's what scares me! I don't...I don't want to see you guys get hurt because of me!" Tears started to fall from Hope's eyes, no matter how hard he tried to dam them back. He covered his face with his hand, not wanting Lightning to see him at his weakest moment. A white light then enveloped his hand, before covering his entire body. The familiar symbols appeared on the ground below him. And then a behemoth Eidolon- probably the largest of the group's- materialized a few meters in front of them. The shock waves from it's appearance caused everyone to be flung back. Fang and Lightning both landed on their feet, while Snow was not so lucky. He landed on his back, most likely harming his already broken ribs.

"Mention ordeals, and look what comes along!" Fang shouted, raising her spear.

"This is _not _an ordeal. This is a gift-Hope! This is the kind of power you've got inside. And it's telling you not to give up. _Trust me._" She stated, a fiery determination burning in her eyes.

"Oh, I get it!" Fang exclaimed. "It's here to show you the way. Here to show you you've got what it takes to get back on your feet and take this thing!" Hope stared at the monstrous being, aghast.

"You mean... that thing came from _me?_" He asked, not quite believing it. He ran up in front of the pair and took out his boomerang in a defensive stance. And so the familiar dance of battle began.

"Fang! use steelguard!" Lightning ordered. Fang positioned herself to take the heavy blows the monster was delivering. Lightning kept the group healed while Hope began to cast synergist buffs. Occasionally, the Eidolon would fire missiles, effectively sweeping all of the group off of their feet. "Fang, Hope! Delta attack!" Fang and Hope complied; Fang quickly cast mediguard, while hope cast Blizzard and Fire. Lightning charged the beast with her gunblade in sword mode, slashing at every available piece of metal in sight. She then back-flipped, shooting the monster in mid-air.

His gestault gauge was slowly but surely rising with each hit. Hope's synergist abilities were holding, protecting the group from harm while Fang's mediguard prevented her from being seriously injured. Eventually, the gestault gauge filled the entire way, allowing Hope to board the Eidolon, who was now even larger due to his transformation.

The entire party was standing in a broken circle around Hope, who was staring at his L'cie brand in awe. "That's some Eidolon you tamed there." Said Sazh, unmasked surprise on his face. "Yeah..." Hope said, his breath coming in short gasps. Lightning zoned out for a few minutes, not really listening to the group's banter anymore. She decided to move things along.

"So, we're all decided then?" Everybody nodded in agreement. She looked at each individual person before her eyes settled on Fang. She got momentarily lost in the swirling hues of green that occupied Fang's eyes. "Yeah." Fang said, effectively snapping Lightning out of her trance.

"Yep!" Squeeked Vanille.

Lightning sighed and allowed herself to lead the group back to camp. Maybe, just maybe, they would be allowed to rest now that Hope's eidolon was dealt with.

She had no idea that their real journey was just beginning.

**AN:\ Hai! So, obviously, this chapter was a lot longer than the first one. I figured I would give Hope his Eidolon before I go on with my main plot. And the main plot _is _coming up, so don't worry. I realize there wasn't very much Fang/Light lovin' in this chapter, but i'll get to that later.** **I literally have nothing at all to do, so the chapters will probably be coming pretty fast. I'll probably post a short chapter that relates to the plot, before I continue with the group, but i'm not sure yet.**

**To be honest, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. It's like, I was writing it, and then BOOM! I started to draw blanks. So, I just kind of started to write the chapter with nothing specific in mind. I'll have to work on that. **


	3. Waterfall Encounter

_L'cie? You mean me? Oh child, perish the thought. I am more than that. I am Fal'cie. My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum, and lord sovereign of the Cocoon Fal'cie._

Barthandelus, or rather, Primarch Dysley, sat on his throne, a deep frown etched deep into his features.

Barthandelus longed for the days where everything was simpler. He longed for the early days when the Maker left the world, and everything was peaceful. He simply wanted to start over. He wanted to go back to the days where he was not a simple shell, but a living being. He wanted to go back to the time where he was not afraid to feel emotion, but gladly welcomed it. After living for so long, he learned that being attached to temporary things would only cause pain. He and Orphan longed for the same thing, the same thing that would take the pain away, the thing that would make everything right again.

To put it simply, he longed for death. After all, who wouldn't, when they no longer held the ability to be happy?

The L'cie perceived Barthandelus as a heartless and sinister being, who held belief that killing millions of Cocoon citizens would summon the maker, who would put an end to the misery that Cocoon's populace suffered. In truth, Barthandelus genuinely mourned for the current state of the world, and the L'cie were only prolonging that suffering by choosing not to fulfill their given focus. Barthandelus's ultimate goal was to destroy the Fal'cie Orphan, which in turn would tear Cocoon asunder, and call forth the Maker. If he was successful, then perhaps the world could be born anew. Unfortunately He could not do this himself, and would need help from Pulse L'cie, and through them would he be able to destroy Orphan. Pulling the invisible strings that his status as lord sovereign allowed, he and the other Fal'cie secretly ensured the Pulse L'cie's safe travel through their endeavors. After using Vanille and Fang as bait, the L'cie did exactly what Barthandelus knew they would do. They came after their friends.

The last time Barthandelus had seen them, was on the airship of the Palemecia. They were exceptionally strong and skilled, something that Barthandelus was counting on. He was insulted when they thought they could possibly defeat him. Were they not listening when he said _lord sovereign? _A part of him wanted to laugh when they expressed their hatred for him; if they only knew it was he who ensured their safe passage.

_Your destiny was my design._

The L'cie did not fight to win. They were following the path that he carved for them. And as long as they continued to follow that path, his and Orphan's fate would be sealed.

_Is this really the world that they dreamed of?_

* * *

><p>Lightning was the first to awaken between the other five group members. She sat up and stretched her aching muscles, which protested loudly. She looked over to Snow, who was leaning against a rock, clearly asleep. Lightning sighed in annoyance. Guard duty would have to be another activity added to the long list of things Snow wasn't good at.<p>

Frowning, Lightning walked over to Snow and firmly kicked his leg. His eyes shot open in alarm.

"Wha-hey! Why did you kick me?" Snow rubbed his eyes, forcing himself awake.

"You had guard duty." She stated, simply. Snow's expression rapidly changed from annoyance to meekness.

"Oh...crap. I'm sorry, I told you I was too tired for this!" He defended, his speech slightly slurred. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to go find food. You watch the camp." She said, sternly. Snow nodded his head, and quickly stood up. The swiftness of his standing caused him to stumble back, and bump into the rock he was leaning against not too long ago. Lightning shook her head in disbelief. Was it even possible for one person to be so stupid?

Lightning glanced around the camp before her eyes settled on the space that Fang had been occupying just last night. She huffed in exasperation when she noticed that the huntress was no longer there. She turned to the disoriented Snow, demanding Fangs location.

"She said she was going to that pond we passed a few days ago before I fell asleep...which I am_ really _sorry about by the way." Snow looked at her with heavily lidded eyes, barely keeping them open as he fought to stay awake.

"Of course. And Snow?" Snow tiredly lifted his head.

"Go to sleep. You're no use to us if you can barely move." Snow unceremoniously slid to the ground, his head thumping on the cool dirt. He was asleep within seconds.

Judging by the darkness, it was still very early in the morning. Lightning was surprised that Fang even got up before she did, it had to be at least 4:30 AM. Although, the Pulsian never did like to stay still for very long. Lightning noticed this when Fang refused to stop for breaks, something that Lightning very much appreciated. She hated stopping for unnecessary reasons, another reason why she admired Fang. Lightning smirked as she remembered the first time they actually talked, which was when Fang admitted that she was a L'cie from Gran Pulse five-hundred years ago. She said that she had re-awakened on Cocoon, with no recollection of her focus. She went on to explain how she and Vanille were indirectly responsible for Serah's branding, only to receive a backhanded slap across the face from Lightning. Lightning winced as she remembered the loud _slap _that echoed throughout the ally-ways of Palumpolum, and how her hand ached when it made contact with Fangs surprisingly strong jaw.

_"shouting at it won't work. It's called interference." _Lightning had felt like and idiot when she was shouting at the poor device, only to be told by Fang that it wouldn't do any good. She recalled their discussion of weather or not Fang was ready to become a full fledged enemy of Cocoon to find answers. _"Pulse and Cocoon can rot for all I care. If I don't figure out our focus soon, Vanille's gonna turn Cie'th...and I'll tear down the sky if it'll save her." _Lightning felt a pang of jealousy towards the protectiveness that Fang held towards Vanille. She knew that Fang and Vanille held a strong bond that was magnified by them being L'cie, but she couldn't help but long for that same bond. In some ways, Fang and Vanille reminded Lightning of her and Serah, though Lightning knew that Fang would never abandon Vanille, no matter the situation. Regret and guilt started to slowly bubble inside of Lightning, as she remembered the last things spoken to Serah before she found her on the Cocoon Vestige. _"you became a L'cie. And now you're marrying this idiot? Points for originality. But don't forget, if you really are a L'cie, it will be my job to deal with you." _She could still remember Serah's tears as she ran out of the kitchen, and Snow's enraged face at Lightning's refusal to believe the truth. If Serah ever did wake up in their lifetime, she hoped that she could find it in her heart to forgive Lightning. If she couldn't, it would tear Lightning up inside. Serah was her only family left, and the thought of losing her was just...unthinkable.

As Lightning got lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that she was headed straight for the pond that Fang said she would be at. Blindly navigating through trees and bushes, Lightning ended up near a body of water, with water spilling over the edge of a large waterfall. Looking up into the trees in search of fruit, Lightning spotted some particularly juicy looking mango at the very top of the trees. Lightning nudged the trees with her foot, before bringing her leg up and kicking one as hard as her legs would allow. The pain in her foot was forgotten as the delectable fruit plummeted from their perches and landed in her hands. Placing them at the base of the trees and making a pile, Lightning moved to the next tree before freezing in her tracks.

Fang was in the water.

Bathing.

_Naked._

Thankfully, her back was turned to Lightning as she enjoyed the coolness of the waterfall, but that didn't stop Lightning's head from almost exploding. _Holy hell, _Lightning thought as she stared at the tanned back that was facing her, _why didn't Snow tell me she was going to bathe? _She mentally shouted. _**Because it was obvious**, _a tiny voice in the back of her mind responded. _But...she's naked! And I'm staring! Why am I staring?_ Lightning was having a full blown panic attack. _**Because you like her, **_The voice answered, as if it was obvious. _That's ludicrous. I do not like Fang, _she stated, firmly. _**Yes you do, and you know it. **Shut up! Just shut up, you stupid voice in my head! **I can't, because I'm you. and you're insane. Which makes us both insane.** You're damn right your insane, _Lightning responded. She then realized that she was literally arguing with herself, something that some people would classify as schizophrenic. She shook her head and involuntarily turned back to the glorious scene in front of her. Fang's hair was matted and clung to her back, her wild curls still evident even when soaking wet. Little beads of water slid down Fang's muscled back, which tensed as she moved back under the waterfall. The water fell over Fang's body, completely soaking her entire person. Lightning followed the water as it slowly descended down Fang's back and towards her-_NO! _Lightning forced herself to look away, and then hid behind the closest tree in reach. She wanted to curl up inside herself until she was sure Fang couldn't see her. The thought of getting caught being a peeping Tom was absolutely mortifying for the soldier.

As slowly and as subtly as she could, Lightning turned her body to look around the tree, eyes wide and searching for Fang. Relief washed over her in waves when she saw that Fang was gone, as well as her clothes. _Thank Etro, _Lightning thought. She stood up and dusted off her clothes, which were now dirty from crouching on the ground. And then, as quickly as she could blink, a wet arm wrapped around her midsection, stopping her in place. Lightning gasped audibly and struggled out of the unknown assailants grip, only to be let go. She stumbled forwards at the unexpected release and swiftly turned around. She was shocked to see Fang, still soaking wet, standing before her. Her sari was dripping with water, causing it to cling to her body. Lightning opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She found herself too embarrassed to speak. She didn't show it, however. Her face easily slipped back into the stone mask she was so familiar with. She looked calm, but her thoughts were in turmoil. _Had she seen me?_ She thought, frantically.

"Enjoy the view, sunshine?" Lightning's stomach dropped at the confirmation that yes, Fang had seen her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Fang." Fang laughed at this, obviously seeing through the lie.

"Don't lie to me. I could hear you panting from all the way over there. You should try breathing through your nose next time." Lightning stood, stuck to the ground. What was Fang going to do? She didn't look angry. She looked...amused? Flattered?

"Is there a reason you were watching me at a private time?" Fang asked, her eyes daring Lightning to say something. Lightning responded quickly.

"No." Fang smirked.

"So you aren't denying it, then?" _Shit, _Lightning thought. _I've been caught._

"I-just- don't tell anyone, Fang." Lightning said, more of a demand than a plead.

"What's the magic word?" Fang asked.

"I'm not going to beg you, Fang!" Lightning exclaimed.

"I'm not asking for you to beg, Lightnin' I simply want you to ask nicely." Lightning scowled. Now Fang was just testing her.

"_Please_, Fang. Don't tell anyone." She growled.

"I guess that's as close to 'nicely' as I'm gonna get, eh?" Fang asked. A deep frown overtook Lightning's face as she bent down to collect the mango.

"Collecting food?" Fang asked, walking up beside her.

"No Fang, I'm making tea." Lightning grumbled.

"Shouldn't _I _be the one that's angry right now?" Fang asked, only succeeding in fueling Lightning's irritation. Fang chuckled as Lightning stormed off, both arms full of the large mango.

"You aren't going to fill many stomachs with fruit, sunshine." Fang pointed, jogging up to her.

"I _know_, Fang. But if you haven't noticed, there isn't much else to eat here" Lightning replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Follow me." Lightning reluctantly followed Fang out of the trees and back out into the vast plains, which were now filled with enemies.

"What else is there to eat on Pulse?" Lightning asked.

"_Gran _Pulse." Fang corrected. "You'll see."

They came to a stop on top of a hill, overlooking a large area that they hadn't explored. The area was filled with animals that resembled Gorgonopsids, but were smaller in size.

"What are those things?" Lightning asked, taking in the strange animals.

"Those? They're called Verschillends. Great for eating, easy to kill. Much better than fruit, yeah?"

"We'll see." Lightning unsheathed her gunblade, and charged at the closest Verschillend, thrusting her blade into it's side. Blood spurted from the fatal wound. The animal went down as soon as Lightning removed her weapon.

"What'd I tell ya? Easy to kill." Fang picked up the Verschillend's head, while Lightning supported it's back.

"We're taking the fruit, too." Lightning declared.

"Good luck carrying, then." Fang answered. Lightning frowned and picked up the fruit, which was now harder to carry.

"Lightnin'?" Lightning looked at Fang in annoyance.

"What?"

"You never told me if you enjoyed the view."

"Shut up, Fang."

Even though she couldn't see her face, Lightning knew that Fang was smiling.

* * *

><p>By the time the duo returned to the camp, the sun was up, and so were the rest of their traveling companions.<p>

Sazh immediately rushed over to them, eager for food. Upon noticing the strange creature they were carrying, he looked at them suspiciously.

"You didn't bring that thing back to eat, did you?" He asked, distaste clear in his voice. " 'Cause I am _not_ eating that. No way" Lightning scoffed.

"Then you're welcome to starve." Sazh glared at her before plucking a mango from her arms and taking it back to the fire. Vanille lazily crawled out of her respective tent and smiled upon seeing the Verschillend. "Oh, Fang! I love Verschillend!" She squealed. "Who's going to skin it?"

"Well I was thinking me and Lightnin' could sk-"

"I will!" Snow suddenly shouted from across camp.

"Do you even know how to skin things like these?" Sazh asked, unbelieving.

"No...but I'm sure it's not that hard! You just take the skin off, right?" He asked. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"I'll help him." Hope piped up.

"Great!" Snow exclaimed, he and Hope then went to pick up the Verschillend, taking it to a place to skin.

"That wasn't a good idea." Lightning muttered.

"Probably not." Fang replied.

* * *

><p>The Lindblum had been eerily quiet the passed few hours, allowing Cid Raines a few moments to think.<p>

His original plan, thought to be impervious to the fal'Cie's manipulation, was not as indestructible as he thought. He had been planning for months to overthrow the fal'Cie; he should have known that Barthandelus would be smarter than that. He had branded him a Sanctum L'cie before his plans could even be put into motion.

He knew of the fal'Cie's plan. They desired Cocoon's destruction, and the return of the Maker. They wanted to world to be born anew, and in some cases, they wanted their own demise. They wanted the world to be reconstructed, but to do so, they would need to kill millions of innocent people, people who trusted the fal'Cie; People who worshiped them. If they only knew that the fal'Cie only thought of them as pets, as tools even. They probably wouldn't care. The fal'Cie were the ones giving them life. The people's only worries were the rogue l'Cie running from PSICOM. Civilians were so painfully foolish. _The public fears what it doesn't know. Strike down the phantoms before their eyes, and they sleep like babies._

It was unfortunate that Cid's given focus directly contradicted his own plan. But what could he do, knowing that defying his focus would lead him to becoming Cie'th? Well, he would stare fate in the face and say "I choose my own destiny."

It was sad to watch the l'Cie be strung along like puppets- they had no idea that the fal'Cie were watching them the entire time, guiding their every step and ultimately turning them into instruments of Cocoon's demise. Cid couldn't watch this happen any longer. He needed to stop the l'Cie from carrying out the fal'Cie's plan; even if it meant their deaths. He would defy his focus, and save Cocoon, upon countless citizens, and he didnt care what he had to do to make that happen.


	4. Flowers and Chocobos

**...Hi. So, how long has it been? Six months? Damn. I really suck at this whole 'update thing', don't I? I don't even have a proper excuse, either! I guess I just fell out of love with Final Fantasy and then got re-obsessed with it :P Damn you, one track mind! **

***Raises glass* Here's to hoping I don't do it again!**

**-BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!-**

**I forgot a disclaimer in the other chapters so...yeah. I don't own this wonderfully awesome game or anything related to it. If I did own it, Flight would be cannon and Verah would play a part because Snow wouldn't exist. (Sorry, I just don't really like the guy that much. Been reading too much stories that bash Snow, I suppose.)**

**This story is also un-beta'd, so all mistakes are my own. Hopefully there aren't too much :P  
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><p><em>Lightning awoke on the beautiful beaches of Bodhum, the soft hum of bells still reverberating in her ears. She was laying down on her stomach on the dock that stretched out over the ocean, slightly damp from the recent tides.<em>

_ Lightning raised herself off of the wet docks, her back and neck muscles protesting loudly from lying on the hard wooden surface. She dusted off the sand that clung to her thighs and vest, and rubbed her eyes._

_ It was late in the evening, if the dimming light from the Fal'cie Phoenix was any indicator. The remaining rays of light cast an eerie glow across the water, causing it to sparkle brightly. Lightning turned from the shimmering sea, expecting to see groups of people gathered on the beach to enjoy the beautiful evening._

_She didn't._

_ Instead, the beaches were completely deserted, the only sounds coming from the sea gently lapping at the shores. Even Lebreau's bar was empty, not one drunken NORA member in view. The sight was very unfamiliar; even in the early hours of the morning the bar would be teeming with life, the sounds of blasting music and alcohol induced brawls reaching even Lightning and Serah's house.  
><em>

_ The bar was cloaked in shadow, the inside of the building untouched by the Fal'cie's glow. Despite this, Lightning felt a strange, unexplainable pull towards the bar. Even when awake, she didn't feel the slimmest desire to even be within a mile radius to the place, only doing so when dragged there by Serah. Even so, Lightning was powerless as her legs guided her towards the building, feeling as though she was on auto pilot. She left the calming, cool mist of the ocean spray and followed the pull to the alcohol doused building._

_ Getting closer to her destination, the sudden ringing of bells broke her from her trance. They were everywhere and nowhere at the same time; she couldn't see them, and yet they echoed so loudly that Lightning had to forcefully cover her ears with her hands. Lightning ran inside the bar, desperate to escape the noise. She fell to her knees as the bells grew in volume, almost becoming unbearable until-_

_They stopped._

_ Eyes still tightly wound shut, Lightning shakily stood to her feet. Opening her eyes, she had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't going insane. Because surely, this couldn't be Serah standing in front of her?_

_ But it was, there was no mistaking it. It was definitely Serah, her blue eyes, shorter stature and hair worn in a side ponytail by the hair tie bought for her by their mother. She was still wearing the same serene, smiling face she wore when she was crystallized. This thought caused Lightning to pause. Serah was crystallized; there was no way this was really her, as much as Lightning wanted it to be. It was just another trick from her subconscious trying fill the hole that Serah had left behind. _

_ Sensing Lightning's distress, Serah stepped forward, while Lightning stepped back, the smile falling from the younger sibling's face. Serah held her hands out in a non-threatening gesture._

_"Claire..." Serah whispered, the words carrying over to Lightning as clear as if she had shouted them. _

_ Lightning was well acquainted with nightmares. They became a regular appearance after her father died, and only intensified after her mother died and she had to join the Guardian Corps at 15 to take care of Serah. This nightmare however was intensely personal and she was almost angry at herself for conjuring it. _

_ Lightning didn't know what to feel when her sister opened her arms to welcome her into an embrace. She thought that maybe this Serah would just disappear, and she would be left alone again. However, as she stepped into Serah's arms, she was slightly surprised when Serah didn't disappear, but threw her arms around Lightning's neck and practically choked her to death with a fierce hug. Serah buried her face in Lightning's neck, and Lightning quickly felt the dampness of her sister's tears on her skin and overcoat. _

_"You always were a hugger." Lightning said, breaking the silence. Head still buried in Serah's hair which was so similar to her own, she heard Serah give a shaky laugh. _

_"I missed to so much!" Serah replied, never loosening her iron grip on Lightning's neck. _

_"Serah...I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you." Lightning replied. _

_"Oh Claire..." Serah sighed. "You know I could never blame you. It was my fault anyway, I chose to go on the vestige." Lightning shook her head, and held Serah out at arm's length. _

_"I missed you too, Serah. You have no idea how-" Lightning broke off mid sentence, suddenly feeling ridiculous. This was not real. It may look like Serah, It may act like Serah but It wasn't her. It could never be her. _

_ As if reading Lightning's thoughts, Serah smiled sadly. "Can't you just let yourself be happy for once?" She whispered. Lightning was about to reply, but was interrupted by the dreaded ringing of bells, their eerie echoes carrying across the beach and to her ears. Serah then disappeared, leaving Lightning alone again, dreading what was about to happen next._

_A searing pain suddenly overcame her, causing her to clutch her head in her hands. The pain started deep within her mind, in a place she couldn't reach no matter how hard she tried. It spread, first through her arms and then traveled lower, passing through her abdomen and ending at her legs. Her body felt like it was on fire, the flame flowing through her veins, seeming to burn everything in it's path, until it suddenly stopped, leaving Lightning gasping for breath. She raised her head, and looked at herself through the glass of a nearby window. What she saw in the reflection was not the clear blue eyes she expected, but instead, was the eyeless face of a L'cie turned C'ieth.  
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><p>Fang was forcefully roused from her slumber by someone muttering in their sleep. Looking outside of the cave entrance, she saw that the sun had yet to rise. Fang rolled over, determine to get some more sweet shut eye, and nearly screamed out loud when she came face to face with the source of the muttering.<p>

Lightning's body was directly behind hers, eyebrows furrowed adorably, still sound asleep. Fang could see that she was shivering from the cool, early morning chill.

'Awww...must've gotten cold in the night and crawled over here.' Fang mused, looking over at the fire which had long since burned out.

"No...impossible...focus...mmpphhmm..." Fang's eyes went back to Lightning, who's head was now rolling side to side. She then rolled over, causing her arm to drape over Fang's middle. Liking the new source of heat, she snuggled up closer to Fang and trapped her in an iron grip.

'So you're a cuddler, eh?' Fang smirked, and then frowned when she realized she was probably going to get punched in the face if Lightning woke up in their current position. As carefully as she could, Fang grabbed Lightning's arm and pulled, but to no avail. The woman had a grip like an anaconda.

'Plan B..' Sitting up as much as she could in the other woman's hold, Fang leaned over Lightning's slumbering form, and lightly shook her.

"Come on, sunshine. Wakey wak-Aggghh!"

Lightning suddenly shot up from the ground, catching the Pulsian off guard and causing their heads to collide. Only a severe amount of self control gathered from serving in the Guardian Corps kept Lightning from yelling in surprise from the collision. She looked up, meeting a pair of bright green orbs, which looked just as shocked as her own.

They stared at each other, Fang holding her nose and Lightning holding her forehead, until-

"What the hell was that, Fang?" Lightning exclaimed. The volume of her voice caused Snow to snore loudly, before turning over and swiftly falling back into a deep sleep. Fang found herself feeling slightly envious of the large oaf, and then rubbed her eyes, which had embarrassingly watered from the impact of Lightning's forehead.

"That was one hell of a nightmare you were havin', broke me from my beauty sleep. I woke you up out of the kindness of my heart, you should be thankin' me." Fang replied, signature smirk firmly in place. Her only response was a hard glare, which Lightning had been fixing on her since the beginning of Fang's little monologue.

"Though I suppose I should apologize for the...*ahem* rude awakenin'."

"It's fine." Lightning returned coldly, the manner in which the words were delivered making Fang's smirk falter slightly.

"You know..." Fang started, punch in the face be damned, "I never did take you for much of a cuddler. But I guess you learn somethin' knew everyday, hey?" Fang grinned. Lightning's eyes widened, taking in the small amount of space that was between the two of them, even after their little accident.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Fang only smiled deviously, making Lightning feel like she had just walked into some sort of trap.

"Oh reeeaaally, because we were gettin' pretty cozy just a few minutes back. You do have quite the grip, you know." While Fang was talking, Lightning just stared at her in horror. She was well aware of her cuddling problem. She used to squeeze Serah half to death in the middle of the night when they were little. What she was trying to figure out was how she got all the way over to fang in the middle of the night while she was sleeping, when the whole point of sleeping away from Fang was to keep her distance.

_Even my subconscious hates me, _Lightning thought to herself.

"Mumbled in your sleep a bit, too." Fang added. At Lightning's wide eyes, she quickly added "It was nothing, really! I couldn't really make out what you were saying, anyway..."

An annoyed voice coming from somewhere in the corner of the cave caused Lightning and Fang to look over. "Would you shut up over there? I'm trying to sleep-" Hope's eyes widened when he caught Lightning glaring at him, "I-I mean uh...y-you know...good morning?" Fang snorted causing Hope to redden.

"Tch. Wake up Snow, will you? We should head out soon." Lightning replied. Hope, still red, rolled over and shoved Snow's shoulder. Snow's eyes opened and he blinked, his vision returning to reveal a tired looking Hope.

"Wha-oh! Hey kid!" Snow greeted stretching his massive arms over his head. Hope rolled his eyes and stood up, yawning. Vanille came around a few seconds later, Snow's loud greeting waking her up.

"Aaaah!" She sighed. She then got up and stumbled over to a still sleeping Sazh.

"Wake up, pops! Morning's here!" She exclaimed kneeling down to shake Sazh's shoulders. Sazh groaned.

"Not so loud...ugh...never sleeping on the ground again...back hurts...ow.." Vanille giggled and helped Sazh stand to his feet. He swayed for a bit, before stretching, his back cracking painfully.

The sun had finally started to rise, it's rays reaching just inside of the cave, casting shadows everywhere. The grass and plants outside sparkled in the sunlight, the heavy rain from the night before still littering the ground.

"Lets get the hell out of here, I've had enough of his cave." Lightning muttered, standing to her feet and dusting herself off.

_Just wait until you get to __Mah'habara..._Fang thought, snickering to herself.

The group got up to leave the cave, Sazh bringin up the rear with Snow, complaining about his bad back.

* * *

><p>Fang walked behind Lightning with Vanille, who would occasionally stop and smell the flowers scattered throughout the steppe. She grinned when Vanille picked a particularly large flower, and held it up to her face, the flower covering the whole of her head.<p>

"Aaaah, this smells soooo good! Here, you smell it Fang!" Vanille shoved the flower in Fang's face, waving it back and forth excitedly. Fang took one big, long, whiff of the flower and was surprised when a strong, perfume like scent burned her nostrils.

"Oh yeah...very...nice" Fang replied, coughing. Vanille suddenly frowned, looking like a kicked puppy.

"You don't...like my flower?" She whispered, her bottom lip jutting out into an adorable pout. Fang almost felt like cooing at the expression, but quickly composed herself.

"Well it's very pretty, I just-"

"Well, we'll just have to see what Lightning thinks about it!" Vanille declared with finality, stomping up to Lightning's side, while Fang watched with amusement. Lightning looked down at the shorter girl disinterestedly, noticeable quickening her pace.

"Lightning, you like my flower, right?" Vanille asked. Lightning looked back down at the shorter girl, her eyes shining up at her expectantly. Lightning sighed and looked at the flower, and noticed that it was actually quite beautiful. The outside petals were curved in upward slopes, which smoothed out until they slightly curled at the end. The outside was a deep blue, with black spots scattered across it, and the inside was a nice, lime green.

"Here!" Vanille exclaimed, placing the stem in Lightning's hand and curling her fingers around it. Lightning stared at the flower, unsure of what to do with it, until Vanille sighed, exasperated.

"Well, don't just look at it! Smell it!" Vanille suddenly grinned, prompting Lightning to wonder if the girl was bi-polar. She raised the large flower to her face and lightly sniffed, the strong perfumey scent invading her nose.

"Weeeell?" Vanille asked, taking her beloved flower from Lightning's hand. Lightning noted with a hint of irritation that the whole party had gone quiet and was now awaiting her response.

"It's...pretty, but the smell is way too strong." Lightning nodded to herself, deciding the response was sufficient. Vanille went quiet for a moment, before her face broke into a wide grin.

"Good enough! See Fang, even Lightning likes my flower!" Vanille walked back to Fang's side, her nose turned up in the air.

Snow started snickering next to Sazh, who's nose was wrinkling due to the soft wind blowing the flower's scent into his face.

"Never thought she'd describe something as pretty, hehehe." Lightning was about to respond with a nice punch in the arm, before Hope's voice caught her attention.

"Uh oh..."

Lightning turned in the direction Hope was looking, and groaned upon noticing their basecamp was completely destroyed. The heavy rain from the night before had caused a mudslide from a nearby hill, coating the area around it in the mushy substance. Atop of that, the rain had created a nice, large puddle in the middle, deep enough to reach her knees, she guessed.

"Well, there's 3000 gil down the drain..." Vanille murmured, holding up the shredded tents, which looked like they had been attacked by some sort of animal.

Lightning truly felt like hitting something. She considered simply turning around and punching Snow, but decided against it. They needed to focus on finding a new place to spend the night. Lightning looked around at the other party members, who all looked tired with the exception of Vanille. Lightning swore that girl was just filled to the brim with energy.

Fang walked up beside her and casually swung her arm around her shoulders, bringing Lightning closer to her and squishing her into her side.

"Better get looking for a new resting area, eh Lightnin'?" She asked, ignoring Lightning's fruitless struggles. Lightning took a different approach, twisting out of Fang's grasp and ducking under her arm.

"Obviously." she grumbled, starting off towards the nearest hill that wasn't affected by the mudslide.

"Have fun Fang..." Vanille drawled, a knowing smile on her face. Fang stared at her for a moment, before shaking her head and running to catch up with the soldier.

"Hey, what about us?" Hope shouted after them. Vanille ran over to him and took his hand, pulling him along towards a flowerbed in the distance.

"Don't worry, Hope! We'll find something to do!" Hope blushed and allowed Vanille to drag him along, leaving the muddy campsite long forgotten.

* * *

><p>Fang sighed as she watched Lightning tread through the long grass ahead of her, hips swinging and back ramrod straight. Neither of them had said a single word to the other since they departed from the rest of the group, and Fang was beginning to feel awkward. She wanted to spend time with Lightning, yeah, but she had no idea what to say without sounding stupid. They had yet to come across any Gran Pulse wildlife, which was slightly surprising because the Steppe was always crawling with them. There were a few large Adamantoises in the distance, but neither of the two woman had any desire to engage them. They would probably just end up stomped on, and then what use would they be?<p>

Lightning, however, was enjoying the silence. She wasn't a talkative person by any means. She usually tried to avoid any conversation altogether, unless it was about something important. She had no desire to talk to Fang. Nope, no desire at all. Zip. _Zero. _She didn't want to hear that accent that always made it sound like she was amused with something, or that teasing way Fang would talk to her, as if she were a toy Fang was playing with. And she especially didn't-

_WARK!_

_The hell? _Lightning thought, looking around wildly for the source of the noise.

_Cooc cooc! Kweh! WARK!_

Fang however, grinned and raised two fingers to her mouth, letting out a loud whistle.

Lightning stared, wide eyed, as 3 chocobos bounded over a large hill near them, nearly running them over. Lightning assumed it was a family, as one was very small, not quite as small as Sazh's chocobo, but still small enough to sit in your hand. The other was normal sized, just a tiny bit taller than she was. The third one was..._massive_. It had to be at least a few feet taller than Snow. _At least._Fang whistled in appreciation.

"Well would you look at this beauty right here!" She exclaimed, walking over to the behemoth chocobo and patting it's back. Lightning was a little shocked to see her doing that, assuming that all Pulse wildlife were bloodthirsty beasts. However, it was proven quite the opposite as the chocobo made a purring sound in contentment, lowering it's large head for Fang to scratch, leaving it's soft feathers in a messy disarray.

"I think we may have just found our form of transportation!" Fang grinned. Lightning however, looked a tad bit annoyed.

"You know, we probably could have just used our eidolons to travel? I mean, you could have even flown us on Bahamut.."

"Aaah, but then, you wouldn't have gotten the full Pulsian experience!"

"Worst reason ever, Fang."

Fang just chuckled. Lightning rolled her eyes and walked over to the large chocobo, eyeing it warily. It looked right back at her, it's large, baby blue eyes sparkling with interest. It cocked it's head to the side and studied her, before lowering it's head to sniff her hair. It _cooed_ quietly, before it's big head suddenly nudged Lightning's sighed, causing her to stumble. Her hand instinctively went to her gunblade, but she paused. The chocobo had started nuzzling her neck, it's downy-soft feathers tickling her face. It proceeded to nudge Lightning repeatedly, making short clicking noises in the back of it's throat.

"It's not goin' to stop if you don't pet it ya know." Fang commented, watching the scene with barely veiled amusement.

Lightning sent a weak glare her way, before bringing her hand up and patting it's head lightly. _Waaaaaark, _it wailed, pushing it's head up into Lightning's palm. Lightning's face softened, and she brought both of her hands up to it's head, leaving the chocobo's feathers thoroughly mussed.

"He likes you, doesn't he? Guess _you_ get to ride 'im!" Fang said enthusiastically. Lightning's eyes widened.

_I am not riding a massive chocobo. No. Absolutely not. There is nothing she could possibly do to make me get on that thing.  
><em>

* * *

><p>"See, Lightnin'? You're gettin' it!" Fang yelled. Lightning glared moodily from her place on the large bird.<p>

_How did this happen?_

Lightning looked down at the ground from her surprisingly comfy seat. It looked much farther down than she thought it would. But the grass was thick, and should she fall, her blow would be 100% cushioned.

_I better not fall. If I fall, I swear, as Etro is my witness I would-_

"We'll get nowhere at this rate. What do you say to goin' a little faster?" Fang asked, looking down at the mother chocobo _she_ was seated on.

_"Cooc cooc!" _

"I'll take that as a yes!"

_Wait, faster?_ Lightning thought with dread. You'd think that someone who'd driven Velocycles at hundreds of miles an hour would have no problem controlling an animal. Oh no. No no no no no. It was nothing like that at all. This animal had no control whatsoever. When she would try and make it go left, it would go right. When she wanted it to slow down, it would speed up. When she tried to make it go faster, it would stop completely. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Snow had died and been re-incarnated as a chocobo.

Fang's chocobo zoomed passed them at that moment with the baby chocobo following far behind her, and Lightning tried to watch Fang's movements to see what she was doing to make it speed up. Lightning, distracted, didn't notice Fang put her fingers to her mouth for another loud whistle. When she did realize it however, she was far too late.

At Fang's call, Lightning's chocobo immediately looked up, and started dashing off towards Fang at a breakneck speed. Lightning, being unprepared for the sudden movement, tumbled off of the chocobos back and landed unceremoniously on the ground in a heap. She kept her eyes closed, and prayed to whatever entity out there that Fang hadn't seen her.

Apparently, her prayers went unanswered.

Because there was Fang, up on her chocobo, staring down at her with utter shock. At first, it appeared that she wouldn't react. But then her lips started twitching, which evolved into a grin, which was followed by snickers that she tried to hide, until her body started shaking with laughter and she couldn't hold it in anymore. She exploded into a fit of giggles, which wracked her body so hard she literally fell off of her chocobo and had to hold her stomach.

"But you- and the chocobo- your _face! _HAHAHAHA!"

All feelings of embarrassment and anger left Lightning as she watched Fang's face redden with laughter. The sight was truly ridiculous. A massive chocobo with it's feathers sticking up and out in every direction, an out of breath and red Fang, a baby chocobo flapping it's little wings in an effort to catch up, and a dirty, fallen on the ground Lightning. Lightning couldn't stop the tiny smile that fought it's way onto her face. She felt an odd sense of achievement at making Fang laugh, even if it was at the cost of her pride.

Fang finally calmed down, and wiped tears from her eyes. Lightning, fully aware that she was smiling, turned away and cleared her throat, before standing up and attempting to dust herself off.

"...Maybe you should ride with me on the big guy this time, yeah?" Fang asked, grinning so wide that her nose was wrinkling.

"Good luck, that _thing _doesn't know which way is up." Lightning grumbled. At her reply, the chocobo _warked _indignantly.

Fang pulled herself up onto the animal, careful not to rip out any of it's feathers. Lightning followed her shortly thereafter, settling herself onto it's fluffy back.

_"__Kweh!"_

The baby chocobo fluttered past them, and landed gracefully on it's mother's head.

"Hang on, it's about to get bumpy!" Fang called back to Lightning.

"Hold on to wh-" Lightning was cut off when Fang suddenly spurned the chocobo forwards, and it dashed off, it's powerful legs bouncing off the ground and propelling them forward at amazing speed for something so big. Lightning was forced to make a quick grab for Fang's waist, narrowly avoiding another embarrassing fall. Lightning looked around them, the beautiful scenery passing them by, the green areas giving way to a beautiful stream, which glittered like diamonds in the sunlight. About a quarter mile past it was a good sized clearing, surrounded by trees with various rocks and logs scattered about. Fang slowed the chocobo to a complete stop. Noticing that she still had her arms locked around Fang's waist in a death grip, Lightning retracted her arms as if Fang's stomach was on fire.

"Guess we found our new temporary home, yeah?"

* * *

><p>It was nighttime. The Pulsian sun had long since set and the cool, nighttime chill Lightning had come to hate had started to settle in. The band of L'cie had arrived just a few hours before, after finding a herd of chocobos that the rest of the group had used to ride. The large chocobo and it's family joined the herd, leaving the group alone once more. Lightning was surprised to learn that she missed the big, stupid thing.<p>

Sazh, Snow, and Hope were all asleep, the grassy ground of their new campsite a welcome change from the dirty one they had been used to. Lightning had taken to keeping watch like she usually did, unsure of where Fang and Vanille were. She guessed that they were somewhere further into the trees, because she could hear angry whispers and occasional rustling of plants which indicated footsteps.

Lightning was sitting away from the clearing, on top of a large boulder which was embedded in the grassy plains of Pulse. The moon was especially bright, it's light decorating the ground with a silvery glow. She stared up at cocoon from her perch on the rock, her eyes distant. She wanted to know what was going on up there. She imagined that it was on the verge of chaos, what with the sudden appearance of Pulse L'cie.

What was particularly hurtful though, was Yaag Rosch attempting to execute them simply because they had a fate that was forced upon them. He was one of her old instructors, someone she trusted, who she looked up to. Seeing guns pointed at her head at his command was...extremely unsettling. He knew her, he knew that she would never attempt to harm Cocoon, didn't he? Lightning shook her head; her thoughts were quickly turning naive.

A rustling of branches not too far from Lightning's spot prompted her to turn her head to look. A distraught looking Fang entered the area, not seeming to notice Lightning's presence. Fang walked right by her, fangs clenched and head tilted downwards.

"Ahem." Fang spun around, ready to grab her lance before relaxing upon noticing Lightning on the rock.

"A little jumpy today, are we?" Lightning asked, leveling Fang with a neutral stare.

"Heh, guess so.." Fang forced a chuckle. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her voice husky, as if she was on the verge of tears. Lightning's eyes widened in concern. This was the first time she had seen Fang look so...un-fang like.

"...Is something the matter?" Lightning asked, hoping the answer was no, even though she knew there was something going on. She was never good in these types of situations.

"Nothin'." Fang answered. Lightning slid off of the boulder, now a few meters away from where Fang was standing. She gave Fang a look as if to say: '_do you think I'm an idiot?'_

Fang sighed and put both arms behind her head, her body tense.

"Vanille and I had an argument."

Lightning wasn't surprised. She knew they were having some sort of disagreement, if the angry whispering she heard a few minutes before was any indication. Why would that cause Fang to look so unhappy?

"Just an argument?" Lightning asked. Fang's arms fell to her sides, and she sat down on the ground with her back against the boulder. Her posture quickly slumped.

"No...no, it was a fight. A big one." Fang replied. Lightning became confused. Fang and Vanille had looked so happy, before they had gotten here. In fact, they always seemed to be happy. Still enjoying the high of finally finding each other, she 's eyes widened when Fang asked an unexpected question.

"Do you ever think about what you will do, when Serah leaves, and you're completely alone?"

Lightning glared at her sharply. Of course she had thought about it. After finally embracing the idea (or fact) that Serah was going to come back, she knew she would have to accept that Serah and Snow were engaged, and Serah would eventually find her own home with her husband to be. The idea of being alone terrified her, but she knew very well that she wasn't able to changed Serah's mind. She had already tried countless times.

"That's none of your busn-"

"_Please. _Just answer me, Light?" Lightning wondered where the pleading tone of Fang's had come from, and when the hell she had permitted Fang to call her 'Light'. She looked into Fang's eyes to answer and almost gasped at the pain she saw there. She suddenly felt like yelling at Fang, and ordering her to revert back to her happy, sarcastic, slightly perverted self instead of this broken woman in front of her.

"...No, I haven't really thought about it." Fang nodded, expecting the answer.

"I have. With Vanille, I mean."

"What do you mean? Why would Vanille leave?" Fang smiled sadly.

"...That's sort of what the fight was about." Lightning stared at her, silently urging her to continue.

"When we were younger, she would always stare up at Cocoon. I thought it was just because she thought it was beautiful. I never thought she'd actually want to _live _there..." Lightning's mouth formed an '_oh' _of understanding.

"She never stopped goin' on and on about how much she loved it when her and the old man were up there. How much she'd want to live somewhere like that, where there were no worries, where everythin' was given to you, were you were practically _pampered..._" Fang spat the word as if it were a bad taste in her mouth.

"I can't do that, Light. This is my _home. _I just got back! Leavin' it seems impossible now!" Fang gritted her teeth.

"I've always strived to give Vanille what she wants. She means everythin' to me- " Lightning decided to ignore the small pang of jealously that ran through her- "but this is one thing that I can't give her. If I don't, I'll be alone, and so will Vanille. And if I do, I'll be unhappy, which would make Vanille unhappy." Fang buried her head in her hands.

"What am I supposed to do? How do I fix this?" She whispered. Lightning hesitantly sat down beside her before answering.

"...Well, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't." Lightning mentally smacked herself. Was that the best she could come up with?

"You got that right." Fang answered. Lightning wracked her brain for some sort of response that wouldn't make Fang feel worse. She remembered when she was in a similar situation, with Serah. She always wanted what was best for her sister, and firmly believed that it wasn't Snow. She knew that keeping Serah from seeing him would make her depressed, but make Lightning feel better at the same time. She knew that Snow wasn't a bad guy, but it wasn't that which made her angry. He was taking her sister away from her, her only family left, the person that she had cared for for 6 years. But Fang's situation was different, she had no one to blame.

Making up her mind, Lightning opened her mouth to respond.

"Sometimes...decisions like that don't have an outcome you like, no matter what you choose to do. You need to decide what's best for everyone, not what you _want _to happen. If you do that, it ends up hurting everyone involved...and wouldn't be worth it. And besides, you don't have to decide now. Take some time to think it over."

Fang looked over at her, surprised.

"I guess. We still have a world to save, don't we?" Fang replied, a genuine smile on her face. Lightning noticed a girly feeling bubble up inside her at the fact that _she_ was the one to make Fang feel better.

"Guess we should probably get some sleep now, don't you?" Fang asked. Lightning shook her head.

"I could never get back to sleep now."

"Well then partner, there's no fun in sitting here, is there?" Fang picked herself up off of the ground, and offered Lightning a hand. Lightning took it, and Fang pulled her up off of the ground as if she were a rag started off in the direction of a pack of slumbering gorgonopsids, with Lightning trailing not far behind.

As Fang charge into the gorgonospids with her spear raised, Lightning's last thought before joining the battle was how beautiful Fang looked in the moonlight.

* * *

><p><strong>*Peeks out from behind computer desk* Whew! Longest chapter so far! :D I hope it wasn't too bad. I know there isn't much battles in this story but there will be... don't you worry.<strong>

**Also, I haven't gotten passed the Barthandelus battle aboard the Palamecia yet, so I haven't explored Gran Pulse with my own eyes. All my info is coming from Wikipedia and YouTube, so I'm sorry if some things happen when they're not supposed to or if some things already happened but I made it seem like they were just happening (If that makes any sense at all.)  
><strong>


	5. Exhaustion Takes It's Toll

Games » Final Fantasy XIII » **Fate Is Just A Four Letter Word**Author: VengeanceUpholding Rated: T - English - Romance/Adventure - Reviews: 21 - Published: 09-28-11 - Updated: 04-05-12id:7420822

**Once again, I don't own Final Fantasy 13 or anything associated with it blah blah blah, all mistakes are my own, blah blah blah. Hope you enjoy. :D  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"We're dead, aren't we?" Fang asked. Her and Lightning had just entered the shadowy, cool path that lead to the Mah'habara Subterra, and couldn't believe their eyes. Right in front of them was Vanille, with her back turned, surrounded by three bodies of scorched Hoplites, which had presumably left the safety of the cave to attack her. Her posture was slouched, her breath coming out in short gasps signifying exhaustion, but she still held her binding rod in her shaking hands defiantly.<p>

"_You're _dead. She doesn't hate me." Lightning answered, while Fang glared at her.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime." The two watched as Vanille walked on unstable legs towards the mouth of the actual cave, which was, with no exaggeration of the word, massive. Which most likely meant that it was inhabited by all kinds of nasty creatures. Which meant Vanille would most likely die if she went in there alone, if she didn't pass out from exhaustion first.

"You two really do have to talk, you know." Lightning said, while watching Vanille with concern as she disappeared from view around a corner.

"I know, I know. I just...don't know what to say. We've never fought before."

"That's no excuse. She's about to get herself killed." Fang sighed, and wrung her hands nervously, an action that was quite uncommon for her.

"Alright...alright. I'll talk to her. But I make no promises." Fang swiftly jogged off in the direction of Vanille, soon disappearing around the same corner. Lightning turned to the remains of the Hoplites, and let out a low whistle when she noticed that they were actually starting to _disintegrate_ from the force behind Vanille's attacks. The fact that all three of them got taken down by a small girl of nineteen made them pretty weak, which gave Lightning a small sense of relief. It also made her think, that the fight wasn't Vanille's only reason for her exhaustion.

* * *

><p>Fang walked up to Vanille, making sure to make her steps extra loud as to not scare her. The plan apparently didn't work, as the girl jumped ten feet in the air when Fang tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to yell at her, but Fang wasn't listening. She only noticed the bags under Vanille's eyes, the slumped posture that made her look five times her age, and the tracks that went down her face signifying tears that hadn't quite dried.<p>

"-er do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Why are you here, anyways?" Vanille demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Keeping her eyes on Vanille's face, Fang failed to notice the dim light coming from Vanille's brand.

"I_ came_ to stop you from going in there. What were you thinking, anyway? Are you _trying _to get yourself killed? Do you _know_ what it would do to me if something happened to you?" Vanille immediately deflated, her arms hanging limp at her sides, as her eyes started to water.

"...I'm sorry, Fang I...really don't know what I was thinking." Fang's face softened upon noticing Vanille's teary eyes. She brought her hand up and brushed away a stray tear that managed to fall down.

"Hey, none of that. I just wanted to talk"

"About what?" Vanille asked, looking down at the ground.

"I think you know what." Vanille nodded, her face pained. She suddenly looked up, and launched herself at Fang, her arms latching around the taller woman's neck, causing her to stand on her tiptoes.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Vanille cried into Fang's shoulder, Fang's sari immediately becoming damp from her tears. Fang wrapped her arms around Vanille's waist wordlessly, allowing her the time to calm down. Vanille's sobs reduced to quiet sniffles, until she finally pulled away and wiped her eyes.

"...I'm sorry about that, too." Vanille said, pointing to the wet spot on Fang's sari. Fang shook her head, and bent down to gently grab Vanille's chin, bringing it up to look into her eyes.

"You never have to apologize, Vanille. Never." It was Vanille's turn to shake her head, her eyes filled with new-found determination.

"No! I have to for this, Fang! I can't believe what I said! I was just so angry and frustrated, but that's no excuse!" Vanille replied, stomping her foot. Fang smirked slightly at the gesture. Over five-hundred years old, and the girl still acted like a kid.

"It was just a minor misunderstandin'...but, if it means so much to you, I accept your apology." Fang grinned, feeling like a huge weight had just been picked off of her shoulders and hurled somewhere else. However, Vanille didn't feel the same way. She was angry that Fang could forgive her so quickly. She really felt guilty, like she deserved something else. Her brand flared up again, bright enough for Fang to notice. Fang's eyes widened at the sight, and she tried to come up with something to say to calm Vanille down. It was useless though, because if she knew anything, it was that you couldn't calm a L'cie down when they were on the verge of summoning their eidolons. Apparently, eidolons were very impatient.

Fang spotted a flash of white in the corner of her vision, and turned her head slightly. _Oh thank you, sweet merciful Etro! _Fang thought, upon noticing the flower bed that lay right to the back-left of Vanille.

"Those flowers, you remember them, right?" Fang asked quickly, a desperate undertone in her voice. Vanille turned, and her anger disappeared. The light of her brand, however, didn't dim a single bit. If anything, it got brighter.

"Yeah, of course I do! They grew _all _over Oerba! I used to pick them all the time!" Vanille squealed, running over to the flower bed and landing on her knees next to the flowers. she picked one, and took a deep breath, the pure scent of the flowers washing over her. She stood up, and planted the flower in her pocket. Fang let out a breath when she noticed that Vanille's brand had finally gone out. _Dodged a bullet there._

Fang wrapped her arm around Vanille's shoulder, and smiled down at her.

"What do you say we head back now? If we're lucky, sunshine made it back in time to stop Snow from attemptin' to cook again." Vanille giggled and nodded tiredly in agreement. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Fang's neck, and jumped up. Acting on instinct, Fang caught Vanille's legs before they landed on the ground.

"Y'know, Fang..." Vanille started, dreamily. Her eyes drooped, her exhaustion finally claiming her.

"I was thinking...before I came here...that wherever you are, is home. I don't care where we are anymore...knowing that you're welcome, no matter what has changed...that's what home's about..." Vanille mumbled, her words slightly slurred. Her breaths evened, and she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>"Did I make it in time?" Lightning asked, upon arriving at the base-camp. She noticed, with relief, that Snow, Sazh and Hope managed to catch a good sized behemoth, and were beginning to skin it.<p>

"For what?" Snow asked, nonchalantly, sawing away at a particularly tough piece of skin.

"To stop you from cooking." Lightning answered, smirking slightly.

"Hey! My cooking isn't that bad, right?...Right?" Hope looked away awkwardly, while Sazh looked at Snow in disbelief. Realizing he wasn't going to get any support, Snow's shoulders drooped and he resigned to skinning the beast, while Hope looked away, his face slightly green. A rustling of grass sounded slightly behind Lightning, causing her to turn around.

It was Fang, with Vanille in her arms, fast asleep with a peaceful look on her face. An ugly, jealous feeling flared up in Lightning's stomach. _Calm down. She was exhausted. You didn't think Fang was just going to leave her on the ground, did you? ...Although, did she have to carry her bridal-style? _

"You guys were gone for a while." Snow commented, idly. Fang set Vanille on a soft spot in the grass, with no reaction from the girl. She was completely passed out.

"Yeah. Had some...business to take care of. Need any help with that?" Fang asked, gesturing to the half-skinned behemoth.

"Nah, it's fine, I'll be done soon. Skinning a behemoth is no problem for me!" Snow replied, jabbing his thumb into his chest proudly. Lightning shook her head at the gesture.

Fang nodded, and sat herself beside Lightning on a fallen log. Lightning turned to look at her.

"I'm thinking we should head back out soon. After we eat." She said quietly, regarding the behemoth with distaste.

"I agree. We're making good time, though. Maybe we should just take some time to relax?" Fang suggested. Lightning shook her head.

"All we've done is relax for the past few days. That's a luxury we can't afford right now." She argued. Fang raised her hand to her forehead in a mock salute, her silly grin taking away the seriousness of the action.

"Yes, sergeant!" Lightning wanted to be annoyed. But the sight of that grin and those emerald green eyes shining at her, made it impossible. She settled for rolling her eyes.

* * *

><p>After eating the behemoth that Fang had cooked, (Which Lightning would never admit, was the best thing she had ever tasted) Lightning found herself again, not able to get any sleep. She couldn't remember the last time that she had slept for more than two hours, the worry and anxiety of how much time they had left had started to really get to her. Their L'cie marks had already started opening into red eyes, some faster than others. Snow's was the worst, his mark fully open and the red eye could be completely seen. Lightning's was almost open all the way, and although she couldn't see it, she could always feel it there. Regardless of how fast it was happening, they were all going to become the same thing if they didn't move quickly. They were literally walking time bombs, just one wrong move and they would all explode.<p>

Although it was Hope's turn to watch, not hers, Lightning couldn't bear to make him do it. The kid was exhausted, not just physically but emotionally, and she knew he needed rest. She wasn't tired anyway, so she figured, what the hell. if her sleeping pattern continued like this, she could end up taking everyone's shifts. It's not like they would care.

In fact, the only person who did seem to care was Fang, but Lightning assumed it was just her pride getting in the way. She couldn't sleep when there was something she could be doing, and if she didn't do her part or if she couldn't do something to help, then she would find a way to.

Lightning always liked that about her.

_Maybe that's why I didn't just beat the crap out of her in Palumpolum, _Lightning mused. _Because I appreciated her selflessness? _

No. That wasn't it at all, was it?

Out of everyone in the group, Fang was the only one who understood her plight. Hell, even Hope didn't understand, and they had spent the most time together. Of course, now Lightning knew why. They were much more similar than she thought, even if she adamantly refused the fact earlier in their journey. Snow had brought it up when she and Fang had first met, and she expressed her hatred for the Pulsian woman.

_It's because you're too much alike. You're bound to get on each others nerves, I guess. I mean, I know it might not seem like it, but you're pretty much two sides of the same coin, ya know? _

That's what he had said, and Lightning threatened to castrate him for it. She didn't want to believe that she was so similar to the person who annoyed her the most (Snow coming in a close second) but when she really thought about it, they were the same. Fang was looking to save her sister-figure, which Lightning could completely relate to. Fang was stubborn, opinionated, and a leader. So was Lightning. Fortunately, that is where the similarities ended and the obvious differences started. _She's annoying, sarcastic, perverted, fun-loving_, _helpful, strong, beautiful..._

Lightning frowned.

_Beautiful?_

Yes, Fang was beautiful. A Pulse monster could see that. But is that really the only reason she found Fang on her mind more than usual?

_What about that jealous feeling you got when Fang and Vanille were close? _A voice sounded in her head_.  
><em>

_So what? I was just jealous because I never had that kind of close relationship with Serah._

_What about when you caught her bathing? A normal person would have ran and given Fang her privacy before they got their asses kicked. But you stayed, didn't you? You watched her, you pervert._

_And? I was just nervous because I didn't want her to hear me leaving and notice me._

_You're Lightning Farron, you don't get nervous. You just didn't want her to catch you because you were **spying **on her._

_I was not spying, I was just...waiting for her to finish so I could have **my **bath. _

_Sure, sure. Because having a bath is what you were thinking about when you saw her** dripping wet** from head to toe, right? _

_SHUT UP!_

_And what about when she offered to 'warm you up?' If anyone else said that to you, you would have handed them their asses on a platter. _

_I was just too tired to fight with her that night._

_Stop lying to yourself. You like Fang._

_Whatever. I'm talking to myself. Better check me into the nearest mental asylum, I think I've finally cracked._

"I don't think we have any of those around here, sunshine."

* * *

><p>(<em>1 hour ago)<em>

Fang walked across the fresh, green plains of Gran Pulse aimlessly, breathing in the fresh air. She patted her stomach, which was full of her specially made behemoth steak (she knew Lightning had enjoyed it, even if she didn't want to admit it.) She sighed happily, perfectly content to just stand there and watch the wildlife go about their business, until she heard footsteps come up behind her.

_Hmm...too quiet to be Snow. Not quite loud enough to be Sazh...hmm...Lightning, maybe? No...the steps are too loud to be her. Hope? Nah, couldn't be. Kid never talks to me. Think he's scared of me. Must be Vanille, but she's going awfully slow...like she's trying to scare me. __Haha! I've got you now!_

Fang waited until the steps were as close as they could get, until she spun around and grabbed her would-be attacker around the waist. A feminine shriek filled the air, followed by giggles. Fang placed Vanille on the ground, still giggling like a madman.

"How did you hear me?" Vanille asked after she got her giggles under control, her voice slightly whiny.

"It wasn't that long ago when I used to be a hunter! Give an old woman some credit." Vanille slapped her lightly on the arm.

"That makes me an old woman too, ya know!"

"Guess it does. Terribly sorry." Fang grinned.

"Whatever, I didn't come all the way out here to be called an old woman." Vanille crossed her arms, looking at Fang intently.

"...What did ya come all the out here for, if it wasn't for little old me?" Fang asked, slightly suspicious.

"I know your secret." Vanille answered, smiling devilishly.

_Oh gods, she knows I ate the last of the fruit we had! I'm sorry! I didn't think Hope would get so angry and then stop talking to you! I was too hungry! I had a craving! _Fang thought, panicked. She quickly schooled her features and answered as evenly as she could.

"Well, not exactly a secret if you found out, now is it?" Vanille looked pensive for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

"I suppose. But still, that doesn't make it any less..._scandalous" _Vanille looked back up at fang, her eyes twinkling.

"Well?" Vanille asked. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Fang stared at her for a moment, before her neutral expression cracked and turned desperate.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to eat the fruit, I swear! I didn't want to make Hope angry at you!" Vanille's mouth hung open.

**_She _**_ate the fruit? Oh, we are **so **going to have a talk later. Hope was so mad! But, that's not what you're here for. Focus, Vanille!_

"Fang...that's not what I'm here for." Fang blinked, before she sighed in relief.

"Oh, well in that case, it was Snow. Not me." Vanille rolled her eyes.

"Fang, be serious for a moment! I'm mad at you! Why didn't you tell me?"

_What the hell is she goin' on about?_ Fang thought.

"Er...tell you what?"

"That you like Lightning!" Fang froze. How could Vanille possibly know that?

_Well, she does know everything about you._

"-n't _believe_ you didn't tell me-"

_It couldn't have been that hard to figure out, I mean, you were practically drooling at her when she got soaked in that rain, the way her clothes clung to her body like a second skin..._

"-I mean, I thought we were best friends!-"

_I bet all of the others know. Hell, I bet the whole of_ _Cocoon knows by now._

"-ou even listening to me?"

_Oh gods. What if **Lightning **knows?_

"Fang?"

_That would be so embarrassin'! I bet she's seen me starin' at her like a piece of meat!_ (_Or behemoth steak, mmm...)_

"FANG!"

_She's going to think I'm some sort of pervert. Probably already does. Hey! I can't be the pervert! She's the one who was watching me bathe! **She's **the pervert!_

"OERBA YUN FANG!"

Fang shook her head to rid herself of her mini-breakdown, and looked down to see Vanille glaring up at her.

"You were thinking about her, weren't you? You completely ignored meee!" Fang ruffled Vanille's hair, the adorableness of the angry expression on Vanille's childish face too much for her.

"Aww, I'm sorry Vanille. I won't do it again, I promise." Vanille huffed.

"Don't waste your time apologizing to me, you behemoth-brain! _Your _woman is probably out there by herself, cold, and alone, and your just _standing here?" _Vanille turned Fang around by her shoulders and pushed her in the direction of the basecamp, the barely perceptible outline of a shadow in the trees coming into Fang's vision.

"Go! gogogogoggogo!" Fang stumbled out of Vanille's grasp.

"Okay, okay I'm goin'!" Fang started off towards the trees, before shouting over her shoulder at Vanille who stood in the same spot, grinning happily.

"And thanks for lettin' me off of the hook for the fruit!" Vanille's happy expression turned angry in record time.

"The fruit! I almost forgot! We _are _going to talk about that at some point Fang!"

* * *

><p>Lightning whipped around, her cape flying around her in a flurry. And there she was. Fang. Of course.<p>

_Oh gods, what else did I say out loud?_

Fang was a few yards away from her, perched on the very boulder Lightning was using on her last watch. How had I not heard her approach? She was looking down at Lightning with concern, not only because she was talking to herself, but because she was still awake when she didn't get any sleep the night before. Lightning felt a pang of annoyance go through her. Couldn't Fang ever just leave her alone?

"Hope's watch is over...though he didn't do much watchin', did he?" Fang asked, her voice laced with budding annoyance.

"He was exhausted. He wouldn't be much use watching if we was asleep, would he?" Lightning answered, tiredly.

"You're exhausted too, we're all exhausted, that's not going to change. That doesn't mean we can't do our share of the work." Fang replied, sliding off of the rock.

"You're not invincible. You need to get some sleep, you're doin' too much." A spark of anger flared up in Lightning. What was Fang to tell her what to do?

"Really, though. When was the last time you got a good night's sleep? For more than an hour, I mean." Fang asked, stepping closer to her. Lightning's mind flashed back to when she was thinking. She didn't remember. She slept well when they were at Hope's house, but that was on a bed, and they were tired from running from Psicom.

The thought of the soldiers caused a bad taste to appear in Lightning's mouth. She really hated them. Anger started to slowly course through her.

"I don't need you worrying about me, Fang. I can take care of myself."

"Oh you can, can ya? Well, you aren't doing a very good job! You can't keep worryin' about everyone, Light. If you do that, who's going to be left to worry about you?" Fang asked, stepping closer to Lightning, putting just a few meters between them.

"I'm fine Fang. Now _leave me alone_." Lightning growled out the last words, her anger and tiredness getting the best of her.

"No. You are goin' to go back to basecamp, find somewhere comfortable, and lie down. You are goin' to get a good nights sleep, and stop pushin' yourself, you selfless idiot!" Lightning felt something snap inside her at Fang daring to tell her what to do. She swiftly walked towards Fang, and, ignoring the voice inside her head that screamed at her to stop, she cocked back her fist and punched Fang in the jaw as hard as she could. Fang reeled back, and tripping over her own feet, she fell to the ground, holding her jaw which was now dislocated. Fang stared up at her in shock, before her eyes narrowed dangerously. Setting her jaw painfully back into place, Fang stood up and made a move to grab her lance, causing Lightning's eyes to widen slightly.

"Fine." Fang growled out, her face twisted in frustration. "If violence is the only thing that will get through to you, then so be it." And with that, Fang grabbed her lance, and twirled at above her head, before setting it in a defensive position. Lightning was seeing red. How dare Fang try and attack her?

Lightning grabbed her blazefire sabre and flicked it into it's sword position. The scraping noise of gears moving together filled the night, everything else deathly quiet. Growling, she charged at Fang, her anger fueling her attack. To anything else, her attack would have split them in two, but Fang wasn't called a sentinel for nothing. Lightning's attack bounced off of her lance like a child with a toy sword.

Lightning was literally shaking, she was so angry. Fang noticed, with a grim sort of satisfaction, that if Lightning kept using her anger as a strategy this fight would be over in seconds. Lightning wasn't thinking straight, this she knew.

Lightning charged back at Fang, feigning an attack. She instead flipped over Fang's head and landed on the bolder behind them, using her AMP technology to bound off of the rock at an almost impossible angle. She held her sword in front of her and used her momentum to swing around in a circle, launching towards Fang like some sort of lethal tornado. Fang was unable to block the attack, because it was literally coming at her from all angles. So, she rolled out of the way, causing Lightning to land on the ground, her attack failed.

The two exchanged a few more blows, Fang's coming in quick, sweeping arcs filled with immense power, and Lightning's coming in extremely fast succession, the woman never seeming to lose energy. Fang knew that she was no match for Lightning in terms of agility and speed, so she used to overpowering strength to her advantage, going into a more defensive position. Lightning scowled and flipped away from Fang, upon noticing her attacks wouldn't get through her impenetrable defense. She instead flicked the sword into it's gun form, and shot at Fang five times, all of which were blocked by Fang's lance.

"Time to end this!"

Lightning charged at Fang with her Army of One, her attacks coming at a vicious, almost inhuman speed. Fang was unable to block all of them, and she ended up getting cut several times, some of the wounds bleeding lightly, some heavier. Fang gritted her teeth through the rest of the attack, until finally Lightning flipped away and ended it.

_I'm sorry, Lightnin'. But you need this._

Lightning recognized what Fang was doing almost immediately, their many times battling together giving her an insight on Fang's moves. Lightning saw her jump up to prepare her Highwind, an attack nearly impossible to escape. Lightning closed her eyes and waited for the blow with her sword raised, but it never came. Instead she was extremely surprised when Fang landed behind her instead. But when she realized it, it was far too late. Fang charged at her and tackled Lightning down on to the ground, holding her in an iron grip while she struggled to get free.

_"Calm down."_

The words were spoken in a soothing tone, Fang's face hovering inches above her own. Lightning ceased her struggling, and looked at Fang in horror as she came out of her rage-induced haze.

Her jaw was bruising in four places, from the bronze knuckles on Lightning's gloves. Her arms and legs were bleeding from Lightning's attack, the blood steadily dripping down onto the grass and onto Lightning's clothes.

_Oh maker, no._

_Lightning, it only destroys, doesn't it?_

_No. I'm not going to just let her bleed out all over the ground.  
><em>

Lightning rolled out from under Fang and sat up, quickly bringing her hands up in front of her, palms up. Fang prepared to move away, thinking Lightning was about to attack again, but paused when Lightning's hands started to create a beautiful green aura.

_She's...healin' me?_

Lightning's eyes filled with determination, and she placed her hands just above Fang's wounds. the aura filled everything it touched with warmth, the green light weaving in and around Fang's body. Her body entered a completely relaxed state, the warmth of the spell seeming to melt all of the tension away. Lightning slowly removed her hands, Fang's wounds completely gone, the only signs of them being faint, pink lines that would disappear by morning.

Fang sat up and touched her jaw, expecting the skin there to be very tender.

It wasn't.

In fact, it was the complete opposite, it was warm and smooth, the night time chill not affecting it in the slightest. In fact, all of Fang's body felt warm.

Fang glanced at Lightning, and she froze. Lightning's eyes were wide and unseeing, her expression unchanging. She didn't seem to notice that Fang was even there anymore. She was obviously having some sort of internal battle.

"...Sunshine?" Fang asked, waving her hand in front of Lightning's face. Lightning turned her head to look at her, her eyes filled with pain.

"...Oh sunshine." Fang sighed, wrapping her arm against Lightning's chilled shoulders.

_"Don't call me that." _Lightning whispered forcefully. "Not after what I just did...I am..I am _so _sorry Fang..I don't..I don't even.." Lightning's eyebrows furrowed, her face firmly angled toward the ground.

"Hey..." Fang said, lifting Lightning's chin up to look her in the eye. The look on Lightning's face made her want to cry. She looked like a lost child.

"It's okay, I'm fine. I can take a little beatin' every once and a while." Fang smiled reassuringly, but Lightning shook her head.

"No. You don't deserve to be some sort of personal outlet for me. I just...I _shot _at you Fang. I could have _killed_ you." Lightning whispered, her lip starting to tremble. Fang brushed Lightning's bangs out of her face.

"I'm still here, Light. Nothin' will _ever _make me leave, I promise. Not even any temper tantrums could drive me away." Fang grinned. Lightning nodded her head shakily. The two went quiet, emerald green burning fiercely into cerulean blue, and Fang felt herself moving forwards. Lightning sat shock-still, realizing that Fang was about to kiss her.

_Fang is about to kiss me. _Lightning thought, dazed.

_Fang is about to kiss you, you idiot! Don't just sit there! _The voice from before shouted.

Lightning's eyes fluttered shut, their lips a hair's width away, Lightning could_ feel_ the warmth of Fang's breath on her face until-

"Hey, you guys out here?" Lightning reeled back, her eyes wide.

_Snow. Gods damn you. Damn you straight to hell._

Fang drew back, her eyes narrowed in anger. She could hear the loud thud of Snow's boots on the ground, looking for the two woman.

_I was about to kiss her. I was about to kiss Lightnin'. _

Lightning quickly got up, looking dazed, and swiftly walked away into the cover of the trees, while Fang still sat on the ground, silently fuming.

_That was my one chance. She was finally starting to open up to me, and Snow ruined it. She's never going to come back, is she? He scared her away. _

_DAMMIT_!

* * *

><p><strong>A:N WHY SNOW, WHYYY?**

**Next up, Mah'habara! ...Hopefully**

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Final Fantasy XIII, Adventure, Romance